Western Carolina football started spring workouts Monday, and as has been commonplace in recent years, the Catamounts maintain an air of openness and transparency about their March and April business.
A story posted on the school’s official athletics Web site mapped out WCU’s full practice schedule for the next five weeks, down to start times and which colored jerseys each unit will be using during drills.
“Unless otherwise noted, each WCU spring football practice is open to the public,” is a refreshing sentence to read in a college football press release this time of year.
Western Carolina is one of the most intriguing teams in our state heading into the 2026 season. The Catamounts are coming off three-straight seven-win campaigns and have been on the cusp of halting a decades-long conference championship and playoff drought.
The offense has been record-breaking.
Quarterback play has been off-the-charts fantastic.
Yet, deficiencies on the defensive side – compounded by the usual crazy bounces of the pigskin – have derailed the true breakthrough season WCU fans have been craving for eons.
That tension is what makes this spring a pivotal one for the program, entering its sixth year with Kerwin Bell at the helm.
Here are three things we’re watching from our state’s western-most FCS team as spring drills open:
Can the WCU defense become an asset, not a liability?
Western Carolina passed for 4,268 yards, piled up 5,920 total yards and scored 463 points last season – all school records. But the Catamounts also surrendered 5,519 yards and 402 points across 12 games, numbers too large to ignore.
Head coach Kerwin Bell didn’t simply seek to tweak the defensive mindset heading into 2026. He’s actively overhauling it.
Nick Reveiz takes over as coordinator after leading Charleston Southern’s unit for the past three seasons. The Buccaneers ranked 34th nationally in scoring defense last fall, forced 24 fumbles and held FBS program Coastal Carolina to just 13 points — proof that Reveiz’s schemes can create disruption.
He’s not the only new face joining the defensive side of the ball. Western Carolina announced this week it is adding Michael Welch (defensive line/run-game coordinator), Ross Pryor (linebackers), Ty Phillips (bandits) and Darius Beck (safeties) to the staff, while Malik Goodman returns to oversee the cornerbacks.
The Catamounts have not lacked talent on the defensive side. The question this spring is whether a new structure and voice can mold that athleticism into a defense capable of complementing one of the most explosive offenses in the FCS.
Back to it #LOTE pic.twitter.com/SP7KDxSUIL
— Western Carolina Football (@CatamountsFB) March 3, 2026
Life After Taron Dickens
Replacing Taron Dickens at the quarterback spot is no routine transition. Despite missing the first three games last season, Dickens delivered one of the most efficient campaigns in FCS history — completing 74.2 percent of his passes for 3,508 yards and 38 touchdowns with just two interceptions.
He set NCAA records for consecutive completions (50) and single-game completions (46), earned Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and finished runner-up for the Walter Payton Award before transferring to North Carolina this winter.
Now the position resets.
Isaac Lee is the only quarterback on the 2026 WCU spring roster with meaningful collegiate snaps, seeing action in five games last fall. Ian Grissom and Jordan Martin-Durham bring promise and familiarity with the program but little experience, while NC State transfer Lex Thomas adds another layer to what should be a wide-open competition this spring.
Western Carolina has recruited the position aggressively. The Catamounts signed two QBs with its 2026 high school class – Caleb Tucker from Woodbridge, VA and Jake Morrow from Grand Blanc, MI.
The challenge now is finding a quarterback who can maintain the timing, decision-making and efficiency that turned last year’s offense into one of the most feared units in the FCS.
Is the SoCon Football Title Finally Within Reach?
Mercer has been the king of the hill in the Southern Conference the past two seasons, winning 15 of 16 league games and two championships. But the coach who led the Bears to back-to-back banners, Mike Jacobs, departed for Toledo.
Is the door open for a new program to ascend?
Western Carolina finished second behind Mercer in both the 2024 and 2025 standings. Last year’s game against the Bears epitomized just how close WCU is to breaking through.
Dickens threw seven touchdown passes in the wild shootout, including a 42-yarder to James Tyre with 3:13 left to give the Catamounts a 47-46 advantage.
WCU misfired on a two-point conversion attempt and Mercer booted a field goal with 1:30 left to retake a 49-47 lead. Dickens led the Catamounts right back down the field to the Mercer 15 with three seconds to go.
But a 33-yard field goal attempt missed on the final play.
So close. Yet so far.
Western Carolina has never won the SoCon since joining in the 1970s. Mercer, Chattanooga, The Citadel, Wofford, ETSU, Furman, VMI and Samford all have league titles since 2015. The Catamounts’ last playoff appearance came in 1983, a year that saw the program advance to the national championship game.
With Mercer now in transition, the door is open for Western Carolina to take that next step. Whether the Catamounts can seize the opportunity will be one of the defining questions of the 2026 season.
The work began in Cullowhee on Monday.
